Anything is Possible
by Amiko-san
Summary: The battle has ended, the Saiyans are defeted. Gohan and Goku, the planet's heroes, are asleep in their hospital beds. But what is bothering both father and son, and will their problems be resolved? Anything is possible, right?


Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z; please don't sue me…it's not like you could get much anyway.

Anything is Possible

XxXx--

_I kicked him…I really kicked him! Right into those rocks…wow! Did I really do that? _Gohan thought as he watched Nappa collide with a nearby cliff. But his confidence soon faded as Nappa flew from the rubble he'd created to a few meters away from Gohan, glowing with both energy and rage.

"Kid…say goodbye!" Nappa yelled as he aimed a deadly ki blast at Gohan. The blast was hot, hotter than anything Gohan had felt before. He backed up slowly, inching away from Nappa slowly, but he hit a wall and froze in place. His arms went up in front of his face, the energy was just so hot, it hadn't even hit him and he was feeling its affects. Gohan was scared but numb; he didn't know what to do, where to go.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over Gohan. The heat from the ki energy was gone and before him stood Piccolo, arms extended and his own body taking the full brunt of the blast. Gohan heard Piccolo yell from the pain. It sounded like a thunder-crash, deep and frightening. Gohan had seen Piccolo punched, kicked, blasted and hurt many other ways without so much as an "ouch", but now he was yelling…Gohan would never forget that sound.

XxXx--

"Aaahh!" Gohan yelled as he woke from his nightmare. Piccolo's pain-filled scream still rang in his ear.

It was just a nightmare, just a bad dream. Piccolo's fine, he's just fine.

But as Gohan examined his surroundings tears gathered in his eyes. He was in his hospital bed; the battle had been earlier that day… Piccolo-san was dead. Gohan felt desperately sorry for being so afraid during the attacks, for freizing up instead of fighting like he should have…Piccolo had taught him better than that.

Gohan cried softly at first, letting the tears fall down his cheeks quietly. But as more memories flooded him he began sobbing, eventually letting his whole body tremble. The dragon balls are gone, how will Piccolo be able to come back? Then deeper sobs and gasps took over as he realized Piccolo-san _wasn't_ coming back…at as far as Gohan was concerned, it was all his fault.

The room was dark with not even the moon providing light, which was thanks to Piccolo. Goku had been asleep in his own stiff hospital bed but was awakened by Gohan's cry. His excellent eyesight didn't fail him as he surveyed the room. Krillin to his left while Gohan was to his right. The others were still asleep, in pallets on the floor, and ChiChi on the small couch. They'd all refused to leave and even the doctors couldn't make them go.

The three hospital beds, occupied by the heroes of that day's battle, lay side by side with only one light among all three. Krillin and Gohan were not so bad as Goku; he couldn't even get out of bed on his own. Goku wanted to turn on the light but his body protested heavily, finally he settled for just whispering to his son.

"Gohan?" He asked quietly. "What is it?" Goku knew Gohan was crying, not just by the sounds but his small frame shook with sobs.

"I'm sorry," He said, his voice very shaky. "I d-didn't mean t-to wake you."

Gohan had hoped no one would wake up and ask what was wrong; he didn't want to talk about it. It just hurt so bad, the poor five-year-old didn't even know how to express it.

"You can come over here." Goku said, doing his best to scoot to one side of his bed. "Come on, it'll make you feel better."

Gohan did crawl over to his father's bed. He used to sleep with his mom and dad when he was younger, when he'd get scared. He curled up into a ball next to Goku after pulling the covers up to his chin. He couldn't help but start crying again, Piccolo was really gone.

"Son, what is it?" Goku asked worriedly, thinking perhaps the doctors had missed a bad cut or something. "Are you hurting?" Goku could see Gohan fairly well and scanned him quickly for any sign of more damage.

Gohan nodded his head consent, he was hurting very badly…worse than he had ever before. "Um-hum." He mumbled.

"Where? Where does it hurt?" Goku asked trying not to sound too worried. If Gohan was hurt then he was the one who needed to stay calm.

Gohan looked up at his dad, only really able to see the outline of his face. He then took his father's hand and placed it over his own heart. "Here." He said sadly. "It hurts here."

Goku didn't completely comprehend the gesture at first, but he knew then that the pain was emotional and not physical.

"Oh." He said understandingly. "Are you sad because the other fighters died?"

"Yes" Gohan said, his voice heavy with grief.

Father and son lay on the bed in silence until Gohan had finally finished crying. Goku waited patiently for Gohan to calm down, his mind churning over a certain thought that had been confusing him all evening. There was something about the day's battle that eluded him…Piccolo's death. It made no sense, not to Goku anyway.

Yamcha's body had been in the crater caused by some explosion. It had almost looked like Yamcha himself had exploded but no, there had been other footmarks, and not human one's at that. Tien, although missing an arm, did not die from any blast but from exhaustion. His pale form and overly tensed muscles proved that, plus there had been no marks on him…at least none that would be fatal. There was nothing left of Chautsu, not even a shred of clothing. He must have either been completely blasted away or he used a self-destruct attack. Either way, the results were the same.

Piccolo though, his death made no sense. The blast he had endured, it was a slower moving one and outrageously powerful. Piccolo knew better, he was experienced enough to know there was no blocking a blast like that, just get away from it. And the footprints left in the dirt suggested Piccolo had blocked the energy wave intentionally, almost like he was trying to…no, Piccolo wouldn't do that, would he? What could be so important he'd stand in the way of that kind of blast? What was behind him?

Goku had thought about this many times that day, when he'd been conscious. No, Goku never claimed to be the brightest man alive; he knew fighting though and he knew it well. Piccolo should not have been dead; there was no logical explanation for it.

Goku had intended on asking Krillin, but the poor guy had not been up for the discussion. So, Gohan was there, he'd surely seen what had happened.

"Hey," Goku said softly. Gohan lifted up his head and looked at his father.

"Tell me, did you see how Piccolo died?" Goku asked quietly, not knowing the anguish Gohan was now going through from just the mentioning of his friend's name.

"Why do you want to know?" Gohan asked nervously. Why was his father asking him this? Didn't he see how badly this hurt?

"Well, out of all the other fighters, I can't seem to figure out on my own how Piccolo died. Or, at least, why he died."

"What are you talking about?" Gohan asked, actually sounding slightly angry.

"Well, I know a huge energy wave came toward him but instead of getting out of the way he tried to block it. Gohan, evil or not, Piccolo was a martial arts expert…he should have known better. He **did** know better. A ki blast that big means only one thing…run." Goku was silent for a few seconds, then added "Plus, his footprints. Those I just don't get. He planted himself firmly in front of that blast, on purpose, almost like he…" Goku trailed off because he couldn't finish the sentence, it sounded utterly ridiculous.

"Like he what?" Gohan prodded.

"Like he was…_protecting_ something. Using himself as a shield and protecting something from that blast." Goku felt a little silly; Piccolo would never do such a thing. No, he didn't hate Piccolo but he was certainly aware that Piccolo hated him…along with everyone else on this planet. World domination and Goku's death, that was what he had wanted his whole life. So what would make him sacrifice himself, even though he knew he couldn't be wished back?

"Me, dad. It's my fault he's dead." Gohan admitted, his voice sounded so tortured Goku frowned at his words.

"What do you mean?" He asked gently. Gohan killed Piccolo? No, that couldn't be right, he must have misunderstood.

"I mean that I was behind him, he was protecting _me_." Gohan said. Goku could feel the boy's muscles tense with the memory. "I kicked Nappa into a cliff and when he got up he was so mad he was glowing. He powered up and threw that blast at me. Dad…I froze. I was so scared, and the beam was so hot it hurt my face. I…I really thought that I was …going to die. I backed up and hit a wall, and then I went numb all over. I couldn't do anything except put my hands in front of my face, the light was so bright in my eyes…and it was so hot." Gohan choked back a sob that caught in his throat, he was now crying again.

"Then Piccolo was in front of me…and the blast hit _him_ instead. Dad, he was screaming so loud, I can still hear him. I know it must've hurt **really **bad to make him yell like that, I've never heard anything like it. When it was all over his body was smoking, and bleeding, and burnt. He told me to run but I didn't listen. He said I'd gotten to him, and that I was his only friend…then he asked me not to die." Gohan had blurted it all out, the whole event. He'd not meant to, really, it just came out on it's own; now he felt a little better than before.

"I see." Was the only comment Goku could give. Piccolo, the demon king, saved his son? Why? How did they become friends?

"How did you two know each other well enough to be friends?" Goku asked, generally curious to know more about whatever caused such a change in his life-long foe.

"He trained me dad. Didn't you see the gi I had on? It was just like Piccolo-san's, with his symbol and everything."

"Oh, yes. I was told he planned on training you." Goku said distantly.

Piccolo, friends with Gohan? He definitely hadn't seen that one coming.

"Did you like training with him?"

"Yes." Gohan said truthfully. He knew his father wanted him to say more though.

"It was really hard at first, and I was kind of scared of him. He was really mean and tough, that didn't help much. But things started changing and he didn't call me 'brat' or 'whelp' after a while, just mostly 'kid'. That's when things got better, a lot better. We talked sometimes after dark, not a bunch though cause he didn't really like talking very much." Gohan sighed, remembering the time he had spent with Piccolo.

"Once, I asked him why he was fighting with you and didn't like you very much." Gohan paused and Goku nudged him with his finger, urging him to go on. "He said it was what he was born to do, his only reality was hatred for you. He told me he had waited his whole life to kill you, and he had finally did it…but you know what?"

"No, what?" Goku asked curiously, he'd never gotten Piccolo's point of view on anything before.

"He said it didn't make him happy. He wasn't sad about it, but he wasn't happy either. So I told him he should try to forget about his dad and live his own life. A few weeks later we talked again, and I asked him if he still wanted to kill you or rule the world. And you know what he said?" Gohan asked, excited himself about Piccolo's answer.

"No, what?" Goku asked again, honestly wondering why Gohan even had to ask.

"No, he didn't want those things anymore. Dad, he's not bad. He really isn't. I know he's done some bad stuff before, and everyone scared of him, but he's my friend. He really is. He died to save me and I'd really do the same for him. I just wish he wasn't dead." Silent tears ran down Gohan's face and he didn't bother to wipe at them.

Goku sat stunned, honestly beyond words at the moment. Piccolo was the last, the very last person Goku ever thought would help him in any way. Well, Piccolo didn't really see it as helping Goku at the time. He was thinking about Gohan. Goku smiled slightly, finally understanding fully what Piccolo's actions meant. _Love_.

"So, you two are friends now." Goku said wistfully, regretting that Piccolo had died before he could indulge farther into such unknown territory…his own heart. Goku was glad for Piccolo, he'd finally found a friend.

Ironic, though, that it was Goku's son.

"Yes, he's my best friend." Gohan answered. "I promised him I'd bring him back, but the dragon balls are gone. Now it's impossible."

Gohan wasn't crying anymore but he was sad, how was Piccolo-san going to get back now?

"No Gohan, we'll find a way." Goku said certainly. "Anything is possible, I believe that more now than ever."


End file.
